empowering tips - green smoothies part 2 Today I felt that I should write some more things about my beloved green smoothies. I got a lot of questions about "part 1" (thusly named today) and as my green smoothies e-book is "coming out" only in May, I thought this is a good opportunity to answer some of the questions and add some more info. Q: do I have to rotate everything I use in my smoothie or just the leafy greens? A: Only the leafy greens. To say that shortly and simply (it has science behind it, which I've read, but I am going to explain it very simply here) it is because if our body gets too much of one leafy green kind, it develops a kind of reaction to it and starts seeing it as poison. If you find a recipe that works for you and for as long as you love it, use that and rotate all the greens so that you eat/drink maximum 2-3 days the same thing. There are amazingly many leafy greens to check out there, even if you buy only the seasonal ones. In my recipes I use a lot of spinach and purslane and lettuce at the moment - and I rotate them per week. You can also do that, depending on what you find to buy. I also recommend having at least one, better more than one, raw green powders in the kitchen, with as much chlorophyl as possible. You can maybe make your favorite fruit smoothie and add only a green powder to it. Or you can also variate your green smoothie by making a green milk. It's not so fresh and for me it feels less amazing after I drink it in the morning but it's possible and maybe delicious once in a while. Q: Could I / Should I drink green smoothies every day?
A: You could and you can. But: In my early days I did it a few times without a system and a few times with a system. This last year, if I did it, I used a system. With that I mean: with a recipe booklet, a few more in depth principles, a map of possible combinations and so on. It is possible to just go in the kitchen and combine but it does not always work, the smoothie might not be so tasty and you can get frustrated. You should also be able to variate the taste, from sweet to tasty and sour so that it does not become boring. Sticking to it depends on variation and success, juts like anything else. Also, depending on your fridge (how big it is) and where you shop (how far is the organic produce shop) you should also buy ahead for at least a week. And you'd need a few days of preparation for your body and after the program a few days of transition from the green smoothies to your usual (or a new) eating pattern. There is also something to be said about doing it in a kind of a group setting, even if it is virtual and the only thing you participate with is reading everyday's prompts (like we do with this group for April's shine). In May I intend to keep a 10 days green smoothies "challenge" and put all the material I talk about at your disposal, so stay tuned for that. You can also let me know if you are interested in that and I will keep you in mind. ..As for the "Should", you certainly do not have to drink more that one smoothie per day to start feeling the wellness that it brings in your body. Depending on how much you stick to it, the quantity you drink per day and your body, you can feel the positive effects after a few days or after a few weeks.. Some people start losing weight immediately and do not "feel anything", others feel that the green smoothies are amazing for their body and health but do not loose any weight - and anything in-between.. The thing is, I recommend just sticking with it if you can make your smoothies a part of your day and you will see in time what they bring to you. It is not at all necessary to alter the rest of your day, you may certainly eat that chocolate if you want to. What I found is that the green smoothies changed my way of looking at food and also my habits and desires. Slowly.:-) But so surely. And drinking greens made me desire it more and more fresh foods and greens..:-) Also, in time my initial desire for sweet smoothies gave way to a need for sour and bitter smoothies (the so called "die hard":-) ).. And maybe one more remark on this subject, it is possible that you drink not enough for your body to be able to change. Again, it depends on a lot of factors, but from my experience the bottom line should be a few days per week with at least 1l per day. I've had clients that had 1/2l per day for 3 times a week and that is too little to have a real effect. If you find it nice, you can do it, but you won't feel many effects, I believe. Of course, like I already said, a green smoothie is much much much better than a big mac so if you do the big mac, please consider making other choices.. Q: Can I give my (small) children green smoothies? A: Certainly. Children tend to not have our preconceived ideas about what color our food should be so they won't make funny faces seeing the color. Especially if you give a good example and if you start early. If you have older children, I believe it is vital that children start getting used to green smoothies as they tend to not eat too many leaves in the teens (so I've been told).. Be aware, though, that the first 20-30 green smoothies you give to your child should be ***de-li-cious****. Children tend to recognize something weird colored easily and they won't try it the next time to see if it's more tasty this time. They will put the "bad taste" together with the green color for years in that wonderful growing brain of theirs. So, make it super smooth, perfumed, sweet and amazing, fresh and a in pretty glass with whatever fruit they fancy hanging on the glass. Actually, it is a good idea to make one of these for yourself, too:-) Q: Why making it a smoothie? A: Please see your smoothie as a pre-chewed big salad in glass. You do not have to chew at it for hours (except a bit to let your stomach know what's coming). If you have a powerful blender it is said that they go with breaking to the cellular level - so that your smoothies are much easier to digest. Also, we are not so used to chewing any more so our teeth are not able to chew everything to the cellular level (compare 10 min chewing on salad with your smoothie and you'll see what I mean..). It is more efficient for our body to take it in if it's smoothied:-).. Q: What is the difference between green smoothies and green juices? A: This is a great good big question and I will answer it in a next empowering tip blog soon. Please stay tuned for it. Comments are closed.
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